1. Intended purpose. The I-Institutional District is established in order to provide for a variety of educational, recreational, university owned or controlled residential uses and supplemental uses which are compatible with each other within an institutional district setting. Site design standards and perimeter buffer yards are established for the preservation of the character of established neighborhoods abutting the I-Institutional District.
2. Permitted uses and buildings.
A. Principal uses.
(1) University and university related offices;
(2) University classroom buildings, including laboratories;
(3) University owned or controlled multipurpose recreation facilities;
(4) University owned or controlled student union;
(5) University owned or controlled maintenance and security offices and buildings;
(6) University owned or controlled auditoriums and assembly areas;
(7) University owned or controlled student housing:
(a) Townhouse buildings with no more than 12 dwelling units per building;
(b) Garden apartments with no more than 20 dwelling units per building; and
(c) Dormitories.
(8) Library;
(9) Student health center;
(10) University owned or controlled day care facilities;
(11) Bookstores and supplemental retail uses owned or controlled by the university; and
(12) All uses listed as permitted in the R-2 Residence District, subject to all standards and requirements applicable to such uses. (See § 27-202.2.A.) Residential uses on parcels abutting the I-Institutional District boundary line on the effective date of the amendment creating such District may be included within such District when acquired by the University of Pittsburgh upon review and approval of the Township Planning Commission. Said review shall commence upon receipt of a formal request from the University of Pittsburgh to include the subject parcel in such District.
B. Accessory uses.
(1) Private garage and vehicle maintenance garages for university owned and operated vehicles;
(2) Storage buildings;
(3) Essential service facilities, including university owned or controlled data transmission equipment, but not including cellular transmission towers;
(4) Parking areas;
(5) Outdoor recreation including, but not limited to, tennis and basketball courts and soccer fields;
(6) Signs; and
(7) All accessory uses permitted in the R-2 Residence District. (See § 27-202.2.B.)
3. Conditional uses.
A. Development (buildings) and/or earth disturbance activities proposed within 100 linear feet of a residential district boundary;
B. Any student housing proposed within 200 feet of a developed residential zoned property;
C. Any building proposed with direct access to a township or state owned and maintained roadway; and
D. Any building proposed with any portion of said building in excess of 60 feet in height.
4. Uses by special exception.
A. University or university related uses not listed as permitted or accessory uses, but determined by the Zoning Hearing Board to be typical of uses on a university campus and no more detrimental to surrounding uses than a permitted or accessory use. In determining appropriateness of a use by special exception, the Zoning Hearing Board shall refer all such requests to the Planning Commission for review and comment prior to a final determination; and
B. Cemeteries and/or mausoleums.
5. Required lot size.
A. Lot area. No minimum.
B. Lot width. One hundred feet at front setback line.
6. Required open space.
A. Except as otherwise provided herein, all buildings shall be located a minimum of 100 feet from any public vehicular right-of-way or from the lot line of any property zoned residential; and
B. Except as otherwise provided herein, no building shall be located closer than 50 feet from any other building and no building shall be located in a manner which obstructs any required fire land.
7. Maximum height of buildings.
A. Permitted principal uses. Four stories, not to exceed 60 feet.
B. Accessory uses. One story, not to exceed 20 feet.
8. Off-street parking.
A. Spaces required. The number of parking spaces required shall be determined on a campus-wide basis where university owned and controlled development is proposed. A master campus parking plan shall be submitted to the township which identifies current and future parking locations and number of spaces. The numbers of required parking spaces are identified below. Upon the addition of buildings and uses the township may or may not require the provision of additional parking spaces depending on the calculation of total parking requirements measured on a campus-wide basis.
(1) Classroom buildings. One space per six seats in each classroom or laboratory.
(2) General (administrative) offices. One space per 350 square feet of gross floor area.
(3) Auditoriums and assembly areas. One space per five persons capable of being seated at capacity.
(4) Recreation uses (indoor). One space per ten persons being accommodated at peak usage.
(5) Student housing. One and one-half spaces per dwelling unit for apartment units. One space per two rooming units for dormitories.
(6) Bookstores and university related retail uses. One space per 500 square feet of gross floor area.
B. Location of parking. Required parking spaces shall be located such that the parking for individual uses and buildings will be located not more than 1,000 linear feet from the individual use or building generating the need for such parking.
9. Supplemental regulations.
A. Buffer yards. In conjunction with any development involving buildings proposed to be constructed within 100 linear feet of a residential district boundary, buffer yards shall be provided in accordance with the following.
(1) Buffer yard width. A minimum of 25 feet to run parallel to the abutting residential district boundary line and located within the required open space area as provided in this Chapter.
(2) Buffer yard length and location. The length and location of a required buffer yard shall be determined by projecting imaginary lines from the most remote corners of the building, the location of which requires the subject buffer yard, in a perpendicular direction and extending to the immediately abutting residential district boundary line. The required buffer yard shall be located between those two imaginary projecting lines and parallel to the abutting residential district boundary line.
(3) Screening. A 50% mix of evergreen and deciduous trees, a minimum of one-half inch caliper at four feet from grade at a maximum of ten feet apart shall be planted to cover an area of 15 feet wide within the required 25-foot buffer yard. The remaining ten feet of buffer yard shall serve as a transition area between proposed buildings and the screening.
(4) Application. No accessory building or storage of any kind shall be permitted in a required buffer yard.
(5) Maintenance. All buffer yards shall be maintained and kept free of debris and high grass.
B. Lot coverage. No combination of building and impervious surface area shall exceed 60% of the area proposed for development.
C. Floodplain regulations. Where development is proposed in close proximity to the established 100-year floodplain, all applicable local, state and federal provisions for building construction and location shall be adhered to.
D. Stormwater management. A plan for the detention and release of stormwater, including identified drainage easements and discharge points in addition to a plan to control erosion and sedimentation during construction, shall accompany all land development applications.
E. Utilities. All utilities, including electric, telephone and cable television servicing buildings in the I-Institutional District, shall be placed underground.
F. Exterior lighting. A lighting plan shall accompany all land development applications which shall include the location, fixture type and height, shielding and proposed illumination levels.
G. Storage. Any article or material stored outside an enclosed building as an incidental part of the primary commercial or industrial operation shall be so screened by opaque ornamental fencing, walls or evergreen planting that it cannot be seen when viewed by a person standing on ground level during any season of the year. All organic rubbish or storage shall be contained in air-tight, vermin-proof containers which shall also be screened from public view.
H. Emergency access. All buildings shown on a site development plan must be adequately accessed by emergency firefighting vehicles and other emergency equipment. Emergency access shall be required for the purpose of positioning firefighting equipment or other emergency vehicles in relation to the building so that the equipment can be effectively use. Emergency access may be provided by means of a fire lane, a public or private street, driveway or aisle in a parking area or an unobstructed landscaped area which is designed and constructed to accommodate the size and weight of firefighting equipment. Clearly delineated emergency access shall be provided on at least one side of each building with the remaining three sides landscaped or developed to accommodate the firefighting equipment as specified herein.
10. Review and approval of conditional uses. No zoning certificate, building permit or occupancy permit shall be issued for any conditional use in the I-Institutional District until a site development plan has been submitted, reviewed and approved in accordance with the following provisions; provided, however, that existing buildings where the occupancy is being changed without any change in use category or new construction or addition to buildings which does not involve new roads, streets, easements of access or the extension of township utilities or facility to the site are exempt from this requirement.
A. The application for approval of a proposed site development plan shall be submitted in the Township Office no later than noon, ten working days before the Planning Commission’s meeting, shall not be reviewed until the next regularly scheduled meeting.
B. In addition to compliance with the provisions of Chapter 22 (Subdivision and Land Development), where applicable, the applicant is also responsible for providing the following information:
(1) A development narrative which describes the scope of the project and estimated construction schedule;
(2) The location of relevant natural features including, but not limited to, streams or other natural watercourses and significant stands of existing trees;
(3) Required front, rear and side lot lines, where applicable, and the zoning district in which the subject parcel or proposed development area is situated; and
(4) A vicinity map, abutting property owners names, present use of abutting land and buildings and total acreage of the parcel or total area proposed for development.
C. Action shall be taken by the Planning Commission, recommending approval or denial, 45 days from the date of the regular Planning Commission meeting at which the site development plan application filed in conjunction with the request for conditional use, first appears as an agenda item.
(1) Approval. The Planning Commission may recommend approval of a site development plan application if the plan meets all the requirements of this Chapter and all other township requirements and is shown to have included reasonable steps to minimize potentially adverse impacts to adjacent properties and traffic circulation.
(2) Disapproval. The Planning Commission may recommend disapproval of a site development plan application which does not meet the requirements of this Chapter and all other applicable township requirements, provided that the reasons for disapproval are specified. Said application may be modified or changed for further review by the Planning Commission, within the time limits specified or the site development plan application may be returned to the applicant for appeal to Court.
D. The Board of Supervisors shall schedule a public hearing within 60 days of receipt of a complete site development plan application which includes a request for the granting of a conditional use status. A written decision shall be forwarded to the applicant within 45 days of the date of the last hearing.
(Ord. 1983-2B, passed 4-30-1984; Ord. 1998-2-1, passed 2-9-1998; Ord. 2017-01-01, passed 1-23-2017)